Re: [bolger] Grape shot damage (sort of like)
Hullo Jack
A caveat; I'm by no means a sailmaker. I've put together a few sails, kit
and otherwise, is all. You might get more erudition asking over on the
saildesign group. If you are desperate to get out on the water before the
season ends then sailtape will work, but you will likely hate cleaning up
the sticky mess if you decide to keep the sails and do a proper repair. A
sewn repair is pretty easy anyway. Emiliano Marino's book [The Sailmaker's
Apprentice] is very good on hand sewn sailmaking and probably available from
the library. Sails of the weight of Micro's can be sewn on a domestic
machine though, the older and heavier the better. Zigzag is better but
straight-stitch will do.
Use a soldering iron or hot-knife to clean up and seal the edges of the
holes against coming unravelled. Use the same hot-knife to cut patches from
sailcloth, allowing yourself about half an inch of overlap. The sailcloth
should ideally be sound, but from a used sail - in other words, the better
you can match the two fabrics, the less effect the patches will have on the
sail. Chuck at Duckworks could sell you a yard of new cloth at a good price.
Alternatively, someone on list may have a few square feet from an old sail.
I sometimes buy them from marine fleamarkets. I'd be happy to send you a few
feet of cloth, but what I have on hand is probably rather heavy to match the
fabric on a Micro sail.
When cutting out your patches, check that the weave of the patch is aligned
to match that of the section being repaired; this is important.
Cut yourself a few slices of four inch diameter plastic pipe, with each
slice being about an inch or two in length. Split the slices once down the
side wall to make your sail-clamps. Roll up the sail either side of the area
to be repaired and spring a couple of your tubular clamps over the 'sausage'
to keep things under control.
Sailmakers use a double sided tape to 'baste' panels and patches together
before they are stitched. You can buy the stuff from sailmaker's supply
houses such as Sailrite, but I've seen similar stuff sold for attaching
plastic film to single glazed windows to reduce winter drafts. CanTire carry
the window film kits, and that might be a quicker way of getting the tape.
Once your patch is taped in place it can be sewn to the sail with at least
two rows of stitching; not short stitches, and not long; somewhere in the
middle of the machine's range should be OK. The sticky tape is extremely
thin and stays in place after the repair is finished. If you are energetic,
it is a good idea to do one row of stitching from one side of the sail and
then flip the whole thing over to do the second row; Sailcloth is tough
stuff, and the thread does not pull into the fabric as it would into
domestic cloth so flipping the sail means that the patch has a better chance
of avoiding failure through thread chafe. Not a big deal here, I suspect.
It probably took longer to write this than it would to do it, once the
materials were on hand. Practice on some scrap sailcloth to set up the
machine's thread tension before working on the sail proper. Real sailthread
is available from Chuck or Sailrite [amongst others] but in a pinch you
could use stout polyester thread. Tape a blob of cotton wadding to the top
of the sewing machine, arranged so the thread passes across it, and soak the
wadding with silicone lube. Good Luck.
cheers
Derek
A caveat; I'm by no means a sailmaker. I've put together a few sails, kit
and otherwise, is all. You might get more erudition asking over on the
saildesign group. If you are desperate to get out on the water before the
season ends then sailtape will work, but you will likely hate cleaning up
the sticky mess if you decide to keep the sails and do a proper repair. A
sewn repair is pretty easy anyway. Emiliano Marino's book [The Sailmaker's
Apprentice] is very good on hand sewn sailmaking and probably available from
the library. Sails of the weight of Micro's can be sewn on a domestic
machine though, the older and heavier the better. Zigzag is better but
straight-stitch will do.
Use a soldering iron or hot-knife to clean up and seal the edges of the
holes against coming unravelled. Use the same hot-knife to cut patches from
sailcloth, allowing yourself about half an inch of overlap. The sailcloth
should ideally be sound, but from a used sail - in other words, the better
you can match the two fabrics, the less effect the patches will have on the
sail. Chuck at Duckworks could sell you a yard of new cloth at a good price.
Alternatively, someone on list may have a few square feet from an old sail.
I sometimes buy them from marine fleamarkets. I'd be happy to send you a few
feet of cloth, but what I have on hand is probably rather heavy to match the
fabric on a Micro sail.
When cutting out your patches, check that the weave of the patch is aligned
to match that of the section being repaired; this is important.
Cut yourself a few slices of four inch diameter plastic pipe, with each
slice being about an inch or two in length. Split the slices once down the
side wall to make your sail-clamps. Roll up the sail either side of the area
to be repaired and spring a couple of your tubular clamps over the 'sausage'
to keep things under control.
Sailmakers use a double sided tape to 'baste' panels and patches together
before they are stitched. You can buy the stuff from sailmaker's supply
houses such as Sailrite, but I've seen similar stuff sold for attaching
plastic film to single glazed windows to reduce winter drafts. CanTire carry
the window film kits, and that might be a quicker way of getting the tape.
Once your patch is taped in place it can be sewn to the sail with at least
two rows of stitching; not short stitches, and not long; somewhere in the
middle of the machine's range should be OK. The sticky tape is extremely
thin and stays in place after the repair is finished. If you are energetic,
it is a good idea to do one row of stitching from one side of the sail and
then flip the whole thing over to do the second row; Sailcloth is tough
stuff, and the thread does not pull into the fabric as it would into
domestic cloth so flipping the sail means that the patch has a better chance
of avoiding failure through thread chafe. Not a big deal here, I suspect.
It probably took longer to write this than it would to do it, once the
materials were on hand. Practice on some scrap sailcloth to set up the
machine's thread tension before working on the sail proper. Real sailthread
is available from Chuck or Sailrite [amongst others] but in a pinch you
could use stout polyester thread. Tape a blob of cotton wadding to the top
of the sewing machine, arranged so the thread passes across it, and soak the
wadding with silicone lube. Good Luck.
cheers
Derek
Mariners are well known for telling tall takes, and until fairly
recently, many scientists put rogue waves into the same category as
sea-monsters. There were no photos, no videos, only eye-witness
accounts. Given the spectacular nature of the claims, even when coming
from a bridge-deck full of navy officers, many in the scientific
community were dubious about there veracity. Only as video cameras have
become cheap and common place have images of these waves been seen. I
also read just the other day about some sort of satalite imagery being
successfully used to identify ocean wave swells the size of small
apartment building roaming about in an otherwise unremarkable sea.
As R.G. indicated in another post, the behavior of waves is complex and
not well understood, and that's a gross understatement for the
phenomenon of rogue waves.
YIBB,
David
recently, many scientists put rogue waves into the same category as
sea-monsters. There were no photos, no videos, only eye-witness
accounts. Given the spectacular nature of the claims, even when coming
from a bridge-deck full of navy officers, many in the scientific
community were dubious about there veracity. Only as video cameras have
become cheap and common place have images of these waves been seen. I
also read just the other day about some sort of satalite imagery being
successfully used to identify ocean wave swells the size of small
apartment building roaming about in an otherwise unremarkable sea.
As R.G. indicated in another post, the behavior of waves is complex and
not well understood, and that's a gross understatement for the
phenomenon of rogue waves.
YIBB,
David
On Monday, August 30, 2004, at 11:44 AM, Bruce Hallman wrote:
> I hope this is not off-topic, but rogue waves are creepy,
> and one hit near where I live last week with fatal results.
>
> I guess, wearing a lifeline is always a good idea, and/or
> staying inside the cabin, like with a Micro Navigator!
>
>http://tinyurl.com/6zjts
>
>http://www.bodegabay.newscalifornia.com/articles/
> index.cfm?artOID=213800&cp=40560
>
>
>
> Bolger rules!!!
> - no cursing, flaming, trolling, spamming, or flogging dead horses
> - stay on topic, stay on thread, punctuate, no 'Ed, thanks, Fred' posts
> - Pls add your comments at the TOP, SIGN your posts, and snip away
> - Plans: Mr. Philip C. Bolger, P.O. Box 1209, Gloucester, MA, 01930,
> Fax: (978) 282-1349
> - Unsubscribe:bolger-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> - Open discussion:bolger_coffee_lounge-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
Quick, cheap and effective-- but ugly: white duct tape.
--Rob Gogan
--Rob Gogan
> > Any tips on the best way to patch these
> > holes will be greatly appreciated. Thanx.
>
> Sailmakers have some adhesive tape that they use for small repairs
> away from high-stress areas, such as near the tack. I think they
> woule suggest a more permanent repair for damage long the leech.
>
> Peter
On Aug 30, 2004, at 9:44 AM, Bruce Hallman wrote:
California. They were
struck by a rogue wave. Her back was broken. He was washed out to sea
and never
found.
hal
> I hope this is not off-topic, but rogue waves are creepy,A good friend of mine and his wife were on a jetty near Eureka
> and one hit near where I live last week with fatal results.
>
> I guess, wearing a lifeline is always a good idea, and/or
> staying inside the cabin, like with a Micro Navigator!
>
>http://tinyurl.com/6zjts
>
>http://www.bodegabay.newscalifornia.com/articles/index.cfm?
> artOID=213800&cp=40560
California. They were
struck by a rogue wave. Her back was broken. He was washed out to sea
and never
found.
hal
> Any tips on the best way to patch theseSailmakers have some adhesive tape that they use for small repairs
> holes will be greatly appreciated. Thanx.
away from high-stress areas, such as near the tack. I think they
woule suggest a more permanent repair for damage long the leech.
Peter
I hope this is not off-topic, but rogue waves are creepy,
and one hit near where I live last week with fatal results.
I guess, wearing a lifeline is always a good idea, and/or
staying inside the cabin, like with a Micro Navigator!
http://tinyurl.com/6zjts
http://www.bodegabay.newscalifornia.com/articles/index.cfm?artOID=213800&cp=40560
and one hit near where I live last week with fatal results.
I guess, wearing a lifeline is always a good idea, and/or
staying inside the cabin, like with a Micro Navigator!
http://tinyurl.com/6zjts
http://www.bodegabay.newscalifornia.com/articles/index.cfm?artOID=213800&cp=40560
Jack, back when I was commodore of the University of
Iowa Sailing Club (Don't laugh too hard, we were Big
Ten Champs while I was there) no one knew how to fix
sails either.
We did know about Goodyear Pliobond adheasive and
ripstop nylon or sail cloth. We'd use the pliobond to
glue the fabric to the sail. Pliobond is, as the name
implies, pilable. It sticks like hell too. The sails
retained their shape. No one had to sew. We got to
sail.
You can almost always find Pliobond at the Goodyear
store and almost every small city in the US has a
Goodyear store.
Try it. Small patches and Pliobond could be just the
thing for your grapeshot sail.
Phil Smith
--- Jack&Lois <jalo@...> wrote:
Iowa Sailing Club (Don't laugh too hard, we were Big
Ten Champs while I was there) no one knew how to fix
sails either.
We did know about Goodyear Pliobond adheasive and
ripstop nylon or sail cloth. We'd use the pliobond to
glue the fabric to the sail. Pliobond is, as the name
implies, pilable. It sticks like hell too. The sails
retained their shape. No one had to sew. We got to
sail.
You can almost always find Pliobond at the Goodyear
store and almost every small city in the US has a
Goodyear store.
Try it. Small patches and Pliobond could be just the
thing for your grapeshot sail.
Phil Smith
--- Jack&Lois <jalo@...> wrote:
>
>
> I'd appreciate advice from anyone with sail repair
> experience. Newly
> restored Micro Teah McGee totters on the brink of
> launch readiness. She sits
> on her trailer 0UTSIDE my shop even as I type. Her
> mainsail got wasp nibbled
> during the years they were stored in a shed. It's in
> good shape except for a
> number of small holes here and there. Largest is
> approx. 8 cm (2 in.) and
> small ones are about 2 cm (3/4 in.) Any tips on the
> best way to patch these
> holes will be greatly appreciated. Thanx.
>
> jeb, on the storm threatened shores of Fundy
>
>
>
I'd appreciate advice from anyone with sail repair experience. Newly
restored Micro Teah McGee totters on the brink of launch readiness. She sits
on her trailer 0UTSIDE my shop even as I type. Her mainsail got wasp nibbled
during the years they were stored in a shed. It's in good shape except for a
number of small holes here and there. Largest is approx. 8 cm (2 in.) and
small ones are about 2 cm (3/4 in.) Any tips on the best way to patch these
holes will be greatly appreciated. Thanx.
jeb, on the storm threatened shores of Fundy
restored Micro Teah McGee totters on the brink of launch readiness. She sits
on her trailer 0UTSIDE my shop even as I type. Her mainsail got wasp nibbled
during the years they were stored in a shed. It's in good shape except for a
number of small holes here and there. Largest is approx. 8 cm (2 in.) and
small ones are about 2 cm (3/4 in.) Any tips on the best way to patch these
holes will be greatly appreciated. Thanx.
jeb, on the storm threatened shores of Fundy